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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political structure & processes > General
This is the second of two volumes to bear witness to the Cuban experience. Together with its predecessor, "Cuba: Twenty-Five Years of Revolution," it offers a positive account. Yet, it is sensitive to the dilemmas and flawed strategies in Cuba's thirty-year process of transformation. It warns that no preconceived notion of state or of development will help grasp the multifaceted nature of this nation, which reflects aspects of both developed and underdeveloped nations. Seventeen chapters, five of which are from Cuban contributors, thoroughly investigate recent political, economic, and social changes as well as the successes and failures of long-term development policies. Heavy attention is paid to the rectification process launched by Castro in 1986. This volume portrays a Cuba facing the 1990s with a burst of increased vigor in its efforts to secure continued far-reaching transformation. Seventeen chapters describe major changes in the economic realm caught up in the rectification campaign; a slow process of liberalization in the political sphere; and a Cuba that, in social terms, is far better off than any other Latin American country.
This discussion of the traditional system of management of the early 1950s and its subsequent reforms shows that the focus of these reforms is on finding a proper combination of planning and market mechanism. In Hungary and Poland most reformers would like to see the central authorities reserve for planning only what cannot be carried out satisfactorily by market-forces.;In the USSR and the CSSR the fight is on to convince the political leaders to leave to the market the tasks which planning cannot perform well. In Hungary, and to a lesser extent in Poland, which are at the forefront of the reforms, the market plays an important role in co-ordinating economic activities. In the 1980s the market environment has been extended by slowly developing capital markets and by a strengthening of fiscal and monetary policies. Still more changes are needed to bring about a transformation in the behaviour of enterprises.;The management system and economic policy are closely intertwined. This book shows that the success of the reforms depends on the extent to which economic policy is able to solve acute economic problems, primarily the restructuring of the economy.
This important new guide to over 1,500 recent books and journal articles deals broadly with current affairs in Canada. The partially annotated bibliography is organized into 14 topical chapters-focusing on the major themes involved in the study of Canadian politics. These themes include such topics as the Canadian constitution and legal system, federalism, public policy, regional and local politics, English Canadian and French Canadian political culture, political parties and interest groups, executive and legislative institutions, the administrative process, foreign policy, defense politics, strategic studies, free trade, environmental issues, human rights, and international aid. In each chapter, books and journal articles are listed separately and then presented alphabetically. Appendices give directories of Canadian Studies Associations, Canadian Studies Centers and programs outside Canada, Canadian Studies Centers in Canada, and important journals and periodicals. A detailed general index also makes this research tool easily accessible for students and researchers in Canadian studies, comparative politics, and North American history.
In the original euphoria that attended the virtually simultaneous demise of so many dictatorships in the late 1980s and early 90s, there was a widespread belief that problems of 'transition' basically involved shedding a known past, and replacing it with an also-known future. This volume surveys and contributes to the prolific debates that occurred in the years between the collapse of communism and the enlargement of the European Union regarding the issues of constitutionalism, dealing with the past, and the rule of law in the post-communist world. Eminent scholars explore the issue of transitional justice, highlighting the distinct roles of legal and constitutional bodies in the post-transition period. The introduction seeks to frame the work as an intervention in the discussion of communism and transition-two stable and separate points--while emphasizing the instability of the post-transition moment.
This innovative book examines the concept of Eurogovernance and the parameters of public policy making in contemporary Europe. It argues that government and governance can only be understood from a multi-theoretical perspective and analyses the consequences of the challenge of regional interdependence for individual states, the European Union, and for Europe as a whole.In the first part, the authors introduce theories of public policy, the policy process and decision making. They then discuss Eurogovernance in the light of issues such as immigration, health policy, environment policy, eastward expansion of the European Union (EU), structural funding and defence policy. They find that there is no one correct way to analyse Europe's public policy and governance - the type of analysis changes according to its context. The authors also discuss the continuing hegemony exercised by the USA in, for example, security and defence issues, as well as economic management. Readers are also made aware of the dangers emanating from regions of instability, dangers which if not properly addressed may come to pose a threat to the grand designs of the architects of the EU's political and cultural destiny. This book will be essential reading for scholars of public policy and European studies.
Despite explicit commitments to gender equality, women experience complex modes of disadvantage and discrimination in all nations of the world. Offering sophisticated insights into the persistence of gendered differences in opportunities, roles, power, and rights in societies across the globe, this volume investigates factors that both enable and constrain women's advancement. From intimate relations within families, to social norms, relations, ideologies, and structures of power, to political institutions, electoral systems, and public policies, the chapters analyze possibilities for and obstacles to inclusive democratic practices and identify interventions essential to enable democratic values to take root. Contributors from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the USA provide detailed assessments of the social, economic, and political condition of women, their mobilizations to produce transform gendered power and authority in diverse nations, and their efforts to enhance the quality of their lives, their communities, and democratic governance.
This volume, from the Policy Studies Organization, examines the role of presidential leadership in the development and implementation of civil rights policy in the United States. Covering a broad time period, the work takes a social scientific approach to the understanding of civil rights, utilizing both quantitative and archival research. The editors attempt to place and analyze civil rights in context--as a policy arena representative of broader presidential leadership concerns--and look at the development of civil rights policy since Brown v. Board of Education from the perspectives of (1) the public, (2) government institutions, and (3) particular policy arenas.
Here is a comprehensive discussion of the events in Poland between the rise of Solidarity in August 1960 and the martial law period.
Based on an extensive range of sources, this impressive book analyses the principal institutions and features of British politics on the eve of reform: the monarchy, the prime ministership, the cabinet, the departments of State, parliamentary legislation, investigation, debate and parties, and the relationship between Parliament, the media, public opinion and popular politics. Designed to provide an accessible guide to how British politics was conducted in the early nineteenth century, this book leads to two main conclusions about pre-Reform politics: the unpredictability and openness of parliamentary affairs, and the centrality of Parliament to the politics of all social classes.
The victory by Vicente Fox Quesada in Mexicos July 2000 presidential election was a watershed in the country's political history. His triumph convincingly marked the consolidation of electoral democracy and, by ending seven decades of uninterrupted national rule by the " official" Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), symbolized a clear break with the political regime established following the 1910-1920 revolution. Nevertheless, many legacies of postrevolutionary authoritarianism persist, and Mexico's democratization process remains incomplete. The seventeen contributors to this volume assess Mexicos political dynamics at the turn of the century and the many pending challenges in the construction of a more fully democratic political order. They examine: (1) changes affecting the party system, electoral institutions, and voting behavior; (2) the evolving role of the armed forces, organized labor, big business, and rural producers; (3) the new importance of civil society, the mass media, and cross-border social coalitions; (4) and key issues of political representation and governance, including executive-legislative relations, judicial performance, federalism, the constitutional rights of indigenous peoples, and the political role of Mexicans resident in the United States.
Brucan, a former Romanian ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, provides the first social history of the remarkable transition from communism to capitalism in Russia and Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He begins with an examination of the old social structure in communist societies, which used to be cosmetically advertised by the party and officialdom, paying particular attention to the nomenklatura, who have miraculously transformed themselves into big businessmen and bankers. A chapter is devoted to the decline of the working class, whom Brucan shows to be the big loser in the revolution. He then examines the new social stratification, illustrating how the new classes are taking shape under the conditions created by market reform. The symbiosis between capital and power is analyzed in depth, and Ambassador Brucan concludes his study with a look at the direction the social transformations are pushing these societies, particularly the separate paths being followed by Russia and Eastern Europe. This is an important study for researchers, scholars, and policy makers involved with Russia and Eastern Europe.
When Dwight Eisenhower ran for president he was so confident that he could organize the Executive Office more effectively than his predecessor that he made it an issue in the campaign of 1952. When he entered office he found that Congress had given him just two months to reorganize the Council of Economic Advisers or see it dissolved. The changes he made in the Council still form the basis of its organization. This book, based largely on original sources, attempts to analyze what Eisenhower did and did not do, and how well the mechanisms he installed worked.
This book addresses essential questions about the determinants and dynamics of the French political system over the long haul. Beyond 'French exceptionalism', this long term perspective allows for the mapping of key institutions of the Fifth Republic both in terms of their evolution and the complex interplay between institutions and politics.
Almost all aspects of modern politics have been deeply Europeanized, yet we know surprisingly little about how the EU affects the inner workings of national government. This book conceptualizes the profound Europeanization of British environmental government and policy both as a lagged response to European integration and as an important determinant of Britain's contribution to that process. By combining political theories of the EU with new empirical research, Andrew Jordan offers a genuinely fresh perspective on the evolution of modern European governance.
This book provides a comprehensive overview of smart ports and remote technologies in the maritime industry. It demonstrates how modern advances in artificial intelligence and robotics have transformed the shipping industry, and assesses the impact of this technology from a law and governance standpoint. The book covers a range of topics including port autonomous operations systems, cybersecurity, big data analytics, digitalization and blockchain to throw light on the opportunities and benefits of these new technologies in improving security and safety. It also considers the challenges and threats of their application. It concludes by examining the trajectory of national and international regulatory developments. The book will appeal to scholars and students of maritime technology, law and governance, as well as practitioners and policymakers. Chapters 8, 19 and 20 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
This book explores the impact of foreign migrant workers on elements of sovereign power in Japan and examines how the country's immigration control has been reshaped by the existence of these workers. It traces the changing situation of foreign migrant workers in Japan from the mid-1980s to the present day. A particular focus is the transition of these workers from 'temporary workers' to "long-term stayers" or "social beings."
Federalism and Regionalism in Western Europe seeks to clarify the relevance, problems and consequences of operating federal systems of government in Western Europe. It discusses the institutional features of federalism and regionalism and brings in recent insights from the viewpoint of neo-institutional scholarship. Rather than providing a case-by-case approach, the book offers a thematic analysis of federalism and regionalism. In addition, the book also analyzes and explains varieties in the allocation of resources, in the political decision-making process and in the policy content and problem-solving capacity of West-European federal and regional states.
This text addresses the concerns of human rights in developing nations, reviews research, and suggests solutions for the problems. It is divided into three parts. The first section of the book presents an overview, in terms of the history of political terror in the developing world in the years 1980-1991 and also in examining the very term "human rights." The papers in Part II present different ways of looking at, conceptualizing and measuring human rights policies, practices or conditions. This is followed by an assessment of exactly why there are differences in human rights policies, practices and conditions in developing countries. The final chapter in this section reports the results of a study showing that good human rights practices in developing countries are promoted by the presence of democratic institutions.
Development and the State in the 21st Century provides a comprehensive analysis of the state's role in contemporary development. The book examines the challenges that states face in the developing world - from lasting poverty and political instability to disease and natural disasters - and explores the ways in which states can build capacity to surmount these challenges. It takes seriously the role that state institutions can play in development while also looking at what institutional reform entails and why this reform is critical for policy recommendations to work. This analysis is set in the context of the evolution of both development practice and development theory. Chapters are organized around the key issues in the field and deploy a wide range of examples from different countries. A range of case studies throughout the text demonstrate the variety of problems development practitioners face and the key theoretical debates surrounding the subject. This text will be particularly useful to students of development and politics who wish to understand how governance and state-building can improve countries' economic performance and end cycles of poverty.
The Saudi Kingdom presents a rare, honest, and insightful analysis of Saudi Arabia's political stability in light of the mounting domestic and international challenges facing the country today. Directly addressing Saudi Arabia's inert monarchical ruling system, its foundational alliance with the Wahhabi establishment, and its increasingly dangerous environment populated with a diverse set of enemies, Ali Shihabi, a Saudi banker and political analyst, looks at the prospects for the survival of this difficult-to-penetrate monarchy and suggests ideas for reform that may help it better withstand the turbulent winds of change.
This study analyzes U.S. foreign policymaking in terms of state power and domestic factors. Ollapally explores U.S. policies in Third World conflicts during the 1960s, during the 1970s, and up to the present--during which time the United States has gone from a strong to a weak state. She concludes that domestic factors explain much of the reactions to the Soviet threat in the Third World during these periods. This beautifully written text with clearly presented arguments can be read at various levels and is intended for students and teachers dealing with the foreign policymaking process. |
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